2018-03-26
Efesiërs 5:25 NLV
Voor jy jou kerk kritiseer, onthou dat ‘…Christus liefde aan die kerk bewys het toe Hy sy lewe daarvoor gegee het.’ Hy het nie opgegee op sy kerk nie, dus moet jy nie opgee nie! Hou op om so baie oor dit waarvan jy nie hou nie, te praat. As jou kerk perfek was, sou jy uit jou plek gewees het! Noag het nie op die Symphony gevaar nie, hy het op ‘n boot vol diere gevaar. Kan jy jou die geraas en verwarring indink op daardie boot soos dit deur ‘n geweldige storm, groot genoeg om die wêreld te vernietig, gevaar het? En wat van die reuk! Al daardie diere en net een uitlaatklep! Hier is egter die ding – almal in die ark is gered terwyl almal buite die ark verlore gegaan het. Daar is ‘n verhaal van ‘n aristokraat wat oor sy geslagsboom en bloubloed voorvaders gespog het. Geïrriteerd het een van sy luisteraars opgemerk, ‘Ek veronderstel jou voorvaders was saam met Noag aanboord die ark!’ ‘Nee,’ het hy geantwoord, ‘my mense het hulle eie boot gehad.’ Jy mag dalk glimlag, maar daar is net een boot wat veilig in die hemel se hawe gaan aankom en dit is die boot van verlossing. Stink dinge soms in die kerk? Sekerlik. Jesus het vir Petrus, die dissipel wat bestem was om ‘n leier in die kerk te word, hard bestraf: ‘…Gee pad agter My, jou satan! Jy maak dit vir My bitter moeilik. Jy dink soos mense dink – nie soos God nie’ (Matteus 16:23 NLV). Die groot faktor is egter dat wanneer jy foute maak, dieselfde genade wat Petrus herstel het, ook vir jou beskikbaar is. Die woord vir jou vandag is dus: Wees lief vir jou kerk!
Sielskos: Jer 1-3; Matt 27:1-10; Ps 55:1-11; Spr 8:17-18
Ephesians 5:25 NKJV
Before you criticize your church, remember “Christ…loved the church and gave Himself for her.” He hasn’t given up on His church, so don’t you give up on it! And stop talking so much about what you don’t like. If your church was perfect, you’d be out of place! Noah didn’t sail on The Queen Mary; he sailed on a glorified cattle boat. Can you imagine the noise, the confusion, and the violent tossing of a ship in a storm big enough to destroy the world? And how about the smell? All those animals and only one funnel! But here’s the thing – everybody inside the ark was saved while everybody outside of it was lost. The story’s told of an aristocrat bragging about his lineage and pure-blooded ancestry. Irritated, one of his listeners remarked, “I suppose your forebears were on board the ark with Noah!” “No,” he replied, “My people had their own boat!” You may smile, but there’s only one craft that’s guaranteed to make it safely into heaven’s port, and that’s the old ship of salvation. Do things sometimes stink in the church? Sure. Jesus issued one of His harshest rebukes to Peter, the disciple who was destined to become a leader in the church: “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest (smell) not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (Matthew 16:23). But the great thing is that when you mess up, the same grace that restored Peter will be there for you too. So the word for you today is: Love your church!
Soul food: Jer 1-3; Matt 27:1-10; Ps 55:1-11; Prov 8:17-18
2018-03-25
Hebrews 6:1 NLT
Is what worked in the past not working for you now? Maybe it’s a job you’ve outgrown, or a relationship you need to reexamine, or a method you need to change. Regardless of what it is, don’t become so settled that you can’t let go and move on when you need to. They say the hermit crab looks for a shell that fits him, and lives there until he outgrows it. At that point he has to scurry along the ocean floor and find a bigger one – a process that repeats itself throughout his entire life. So here’s the question: Are you clinging to something that no longer fits you just because it’s easy and familiar? David said, “You…freed me when I was hemmed in and enlarged me when I was in distress” (Psalm 4:1 AMPC). You must be willing to move out of your comfort zone and deal with a little “distress.” That’s what makes you grow. Patience and persistence are admirable qualities, but they don’t work in situations you’ve outgrown. Instead of “hanging in” and trying harder, at certain points in life you have to stop and ask yourself, “Is this situation good for me?” If you’re not sure, ask God for “an understanding heart so that [you] can…know the difference between right and wrong” (1 Kings 3:9 NLT). And when He tells you what to do – do it – even though at first it won’t feel comfortable. When God says it’s time to move on, it’s because there’s another shell out there designed to fit you even better.
Soul food: Matt 21:1-16; Ps 118:19-29
Hebreërs 6:1 NLV
Werk dit wat in die verlede gewerk het nie meer vir jou nie? Miskien is dit ‘n werk wat jy ontgroei het, of ‘n verhouding wat jy moet ondersoek, of ‘n metode wat jy moet verander. Maak nie saak wat dit is nie, moenie so ingeburger word dat jy nie kan laat gaan en aanbeweeg wanneer dit nodig is nie. Hulle sê dat die hermietkreef ‘n skulp soek wat hom pas en dan daarin lewe totdat hy dit ontgroei. Op daardie punt hardloop hy oor die bodem van die oseaan en vind ‘n groter skulp – ‘n proses wat hom dwarsdeur sy lewe herhaal. Hier is dus die vraag: Klou jy aan iets vas wat nie meer pas nie net omdat dit gemaklik en bekend is? Dawid het gesê, ‘As ek roep, verhoor my, o God van my geregtigheid! In benoudheid het U vir my ruimte gemaak; wees my genadig, en hoor my gebed!’ (Psalm 4:2 AFR53). Jy moet gewillig wees om uit jou gemaksone te beweeg en ‘n bietjie ‘benoud’ te wees. Dit is wat jou laat groei. Geduld en volharding is kwaliteite om te bewonder, maar hulle werk nie in situasies wat jy ontgroei het nie. In plaas van uit te hou en harder te probeer, moet jy op ‘n sekere punt in jou lewe stop en jouself afvra, ‘Is hierdie situasie goed vir my?’ As jy nie seker is nie, vra God vir ‘…onderskeiding om met insig te kan oordeel’ (1 Konings 3:11 NLV). Wanneer Hy dan vir jou sê wat om te doen – doen dit – selfs al voel dit aan die begin nie baie gemaklik nie. Wanneer God sê dis tyd om aan te beweeg, is dit omdat daar ‘n ander ‘skulp’ daar buite is wat ontwerp is om jou nog beter te pas.
Sielskos: Matt 21:1-16; Ps 118:19-29
2018-03-24
Matthew 9:36 NKJV
The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance defines “compassion” as “being moved in one’s bowels” (the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity). It shares a root system with splanchnology, the study of the visceral [inner] parts of the body. Compassion, then, is a reaction from deep within – a kick in the gut, if you will. Perhaps that’s why we turn away when we see news reports of children starving in refugee camps, and hear about the 1.7 billion people who live on less than $1.25 a day and go to bed hungry every night. It’s too much for us – especially when we perceive the need as so overwhelming that we couldn’t begin to meet it. But what if you could? What if you could make life better for one hurting person? “Then Peter said, ‘Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’ And he took him by the right hand…lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength” (Acts 3:6-7 NKJV). What if Peter had said, “I have no silver or gold, so I’ll just keep my mouth shut and pass on by”? But he didn’t, and as a result a crippled man who’d sat begging for thirty-eight years rose up and walked into a new life. You say, “But I don’t have that kind of power!” No, but God does! And when you see someone’s need and reach out your hand to meet it – God will release His power! It’s your compassion that flips the switch. So, today, act with compassion.
Soul food: Hos 11-14; Matt 26:57-75; Ps 13; Prov 8:14-16
